Attention Students: Benefits of participating in the Student Award competition. If you are one of the 12 students selected for the Student Symposium (Participants will be declared after the competition deadline):

participate in the travel bursary

certificate of participation

opportunity to win a cash prize and a plaque

Awards will be presented to the best student oral presentations and extended
abstracts.

Award Sponsors

To be announced.

Procedure

Previous competition winners will not be allowed to participate in the upcoming
student competition in the category they previously won.
A maximum of twelve (12) oral presentations will be made in a Student Award Symposium. The selection of
students for this symposium will be made on the basis of a previously submitted
written extended abstract. If more than twelve students apply for the three
awards, extended abstracts will be pre-judged by the CSM Education Committee,
and the twelve best selected for the symposium. The other abstracts will be
scheduled in the poster sessions. The student who is
participating in the Student Symposium Competition must be a member of the
CSM. Extended abstracts are due on or before March 31, 2015.

To Enter

To enter the competition, students must do the following:

All abstracts must be submitted using the web
form on the CSM web site. Complete all sections of the web form
as indicated.

Submit this abstract form by March 31, 2015. At
this time, the student should also indicate his/her intention to enter the
competition. A student cannot submit more than 1 abstract as the
presenting author in this competition.

In addition, submit an extended abstract (pdf) of 1000 words,
including a maximum of 4 figures and/or tables that will be
included. The extended abstract must be submitted no later than March 31, 2015. Please note this can be done while submitting the abstract.

The extended abstract. The extended abstract must have its own abstract consisting of no more
than 50 words. Do not use section headings in the body of the paper.
Include a brief introduction, methods, results and discussion in a single
section. The text should not exceed 1000 words. A maximum of 4
figures and/or tables is allowed. Materials and methods should be
described in the text, not in figure legends or table footnotes. The
Literature Cited section should conform to the format used by the Canadian
Journal of Microbiology.

The submitted material will be adjudicated as follows:

Abstracts submitted for the CSM Students Award by the March 31, 2015
deadline will be reviewed along with all other abstracts submitted for
the annual meeting.

Extended abstracts received by the Chair of the Education Committee
will be distributed to members of the committee for judging. The
extended abstracts will be judged according to their scientific merit
(see Competition Guidelines). The students will be notified as to
whether or not their paper has been retained for the Student Award
Symposium.

For evaluation of the oral presentations, the Chair of the Education
Committee will select a panel of at least three (3) members from the
Education Committee, the Graduate Scholarship Committee, or the
membership at large to grade the oral presentations. This panel
will not include members of the Education Committee involved in the
pre-judging (see Competition Guidelines) not the symposium chair.

The three winners will be selected from the combined assessment of
their extended abstract and oral presentation. The awards will be
presented by the Chair of the Education Committee at the CSM banquet.
The 12 participants in the Student Award Symposium will have their
banquet tickets costs reimbursed.

Competition Guidelines

Written SubmissionMembers of the Education Committee will review each extended abstract
submitted for the competition and award a mark out of 40, as follows:

Scientific merit (20 marks): Is the work scientifically sound?
Does the work significantly advance knowledge in the discipline?
Are the methods and results reliable? Do the results support the
conclusions?

Clearly defined objectives of the research (5 marks).

Strict adherence of the abstract in length and format guidelines.
(For example, is the bibliography presented in CJM style?) (10 marks).

Suitability of Figures and Tables for presentation (5 marks).

Oral Presentation
Each presentation will last a maximum of 12 minutes followed by 3 minutes
for questions from the audience. The panel of judges will evaluate
the presentations (70 marks). The judges have no knowledge of the
written evaluation and rate each presentation using the following
criteria:

A brief and lucid introduction to the research (5 marks). A
person unfamiliar with the subject should be able to ascertain what the
research is about and what knowledge currently exists on the subject.

A clear definition of the objectives of the work (5 marks).

A clear, audible speaking style and speed at all times (5 marks).

The student addresses the audience rather than the notes,
blackboard, slides, or feet (5 marks).

The student specifically indicates to the audience the significant
information contained in the graphics (15 marks).

The scientific content of the paper is of good quality and the
message is clearly imparted to the audience (10 marks).

A summary or a list of conclusions is presented at the end of the
talk (5 marks).

Ending within the allotted time. (5 marks).

Ability to respond to questions (5 marks).

Travel Bursary

The CSM will be providing some assistance to students competing in the CSM
Student Award Competition. A total of $2,000.00 will be available to
help defray the travel costs of students who have been selected to compete
in the competition. This is a bursary, not a prize, and those who
have the greatest travel expenses will benefit the most.

The 12 students selected to compete in the CSM Student Award Competition are eligible to receive reimbursement from the CSM for travel costs (or portion thereof) incurred in attending the Annual General Meeting. This travel bursary can be obtained by submitting official receipts (or legible copies thereof) from the commercial carrier (gasoline receipts may be acceptable, if applicable). That portion of travel expense to be supported by the CSM will be determined by dividing the $2,000 by the total amount claimed by all students. Only travel expenses may be submitted. Receipts should be submitted after the meeting and must be received by the CSM Secretariat by July 30 of the meeting year. Cheques will be mailed by August 30 to the person or institution designated by the application.